Empowering youth and CHALLENGING STIGMA through Mass media by WCD Franklin Gnanamuthu

Franklin's Project

Franklin is using video to capture the challenges that married and unmarried boys and girls – including transgender young people – face when accessing sexual and reproductive health information and services in Delhi, India. By exploring young people’s varying levels of knowledge and access to contraception, and by highlighting the issues of stigma and discrimination, Franklin is raising awareness of young people’s needs among service providers, uncovering the myths and misconceptions that young people have about contraception, and exposing the need for youth-friendly services.

Through his project, Franklin will:

• Produce a documentary film about young people’s experiences accessing contraception
• Organize a workshop to screen his film and sensitize 250 social work students and service providers about young people’s need for age-appropriate services
• Advocate for young people’s experiences to be accounted for in future health service program design and implementation in India

About Franklin

Franklin works as Monitoring Evaluation and Research Manager at Restless Development, a youth-led development agency. Franklin joined the organization in 2011, and was instrumental in starting and leading the Comprehensive Sexuality Education program in the two districts of state of Bihar reaching more than 8,000 youths through 8 volunteers. He now works to ensure program quality through developing effective monitoring systems, trainings, and evaluations. He is a skilled and experienced trainer, and serves as regular representative of the Voices of Youth in India. He has participated in several international forums and consultations which include Open Working Group meetings on the Sustainable Development Goals and ECOSAC Youth Forum in UN HQ in New York advocating for SRHR in India. In December 2014, Franklin was recognized by Public Health Institute and Packard Foundation for outstanding leadership in advancing innovation and quality in sexual and reproductive health rights as part of their Youth Champions Initiative Program. Franklin holds a BS in Microbiology from V.P. & R.P.T.P. Science College, and a Master’s in Social Work specializing in Community Development from Sacred Heart College in Tirupattur, Tamil Nadu.